van led strip lighting

[jayjay2324]

Ive got a 2006 Renault trafic van and was thinking of sorting out the lighting in the rear cab section.
I have black carpet glued to the ply line and now its getting darker, sooner im struggling to find bits I need.
so i had a brain fart and wondered if its possible to disconnect the single existing lamp wiring and just connect on a short length of 12v led strip lighting to brighten it up? Would it work? Would it drain the battery any more then the existing light? Would really appreciate any advice.
Thanks

 

[dan86]

just get a pair of work lamps off ebay and wire em up with a separate switch. I've got 3 in the back of my transit each individually switched. when they're on its like daylight in there.

 

[uksparks]

I have got three of these in the back of my combo and it's like day light, very good lights.

Aluminium High Power LED Strip Light - 300mm :

 

[D Skelton]

I used 5m of the high power LED tape in my Vivaro. I just tapped off the switched + and the neg - at the exsisting lights, this not only meant that the existing lights are still usable but when I switch them to stay on permanently (if I'm working in the back for any length of time for example) then the LEDs behave exactly the same

Here's a few pics, I went out and took them (no flash) a few mins ago, as you'd expect it's pitch black outside and the back of the van is blindingly bright! Great for working with fiddly bits and bobs in the dark!

 

[onions1066]

I used 5m of the high power LED tape in my Vivaro. I just tapped off the switched + and the neg - at the exsisting lights, this not only meant that the existing lights are still usable but when I switch them to stay on permanently (if I'm working in the back for any length of time for example) then the LEDs behave exactly the same

Here's a few pics, I went out and took them (no flash) a few mins ago, as you'd expect it's pitch black outside and the back of the van is blindingly bright! Great for working with fiddly bits and bobs in the dark!

View attachment 21530View attachment 21531View attachment 21532View attachment 21533

Somebody has a bungee chord fetish me thinks

 

[D Skelton]

Hahaha,

You'd think so, but no. My fetish is actually silence! Silence from the back of the van. There is nothing I loath more than the squeaking and clattering of tools and boxes in the back while driving down a bumpy road and the crash, bang, wallop of tool boxes going flying as I make a tight turn at speed!

I do get a ribbing from time to time as my van is a million times cleaner and a million times more organised than my collegues. You should see my cab, it's spotless! Not a spec of dust on the instrument shelf nor a muddy footprint on the floor! No copies of the Daily Star, Ginsters pastie wrappers or month old coffee cups flying across my dashboard on tight bends either!

I think I give OCD a new meaning!

 

[tazz]

hats off to you Mr D....Well organised, and well thought out...

 

[HandySparks]

Hahaha,

You'd think so, but no. My fetish is actually silence! Silence from the back of the van. There is nothing I loath more than the squeaking and clattering of tools and boxes in the back while driving down a bumpy road and the crash, bang, wallop of tool boxes going flying as I make a tight turn at speed!

I do get a ribbing from time to time as my van is a million times cleaner and a million times more organised than my collegues. You should see my cab, it's spotless! Not a spec of dust on the instrument shelf nor a muddy footprint on the floor! No copies of the Daily Star, Ginsters pastie wrappers or month old coffee cups flying across my dashboard on tight bends either!

I think I give OCD a new meaning!

Yes, silence, and being able to find stuff and get at it without having to remove everything else.

I'm going to give you a run for your money in the OCD stakes!

I was going to put these in the thread about storage in a van a few days ago, but was thwarted by the IE photo upload problem (just trying Chrome instead of IE for this one).

 

[D Skelton]

Very neat, I like that a lot!

The main problem though for me is getting the balance right between neatness and silence! Your van ideally as neat as I would like mine (still think mine is pretty neat though), however how do you stop the loose oddments on the floor from sliding around and bashing into things when you're driving?

Also, how do you stop the boxes stored on the bulkhead racking from shooting out when you accellerate hard?

And how do you stop them rattling in their little pockets on the racking, I notice quite a few small gaps there at the sides of one or two containers allowing significant box rattle!

See to me, that's style over substance, no matter how much I like it!

 

[HandySparks]

...however how do you stop the loose oddments on the floor from sliding around and bashing into things when you're driving?

The floor is carpeted, which reduces noise and is fairly grippy in itself. I have also laid down a large piece of the grippy rubber-covered open mesh fabric matting which means that stuff on the floor rarely moves.

Also, how do you stop the boxes stored on the bulkhead racking from shooting out when you accellerate hard?

Acceleration isn't really the problem in a bottom-end Transit. However going up steep bumpy hills sometimes is. I've tried small pieces of the grippy matting, which works well, also strips of neoprene rubber stuck to the shelving is fairly good. It really depends on the type of plastic used for the boxes. Soft stays put, hard slides around (the shallow parts trays and some of the bigger boxes never fall out, even on a plain shelf). For the next van I might use more thin strips of wood just to stop stuff falling off. (The wood strips on the side shelves are too thick, and make getting boxes out difficult.)

And how do you stop them rattling in their little pockets on the racking, I notice quite a few small gaps there at the sides of one or two containers allowing significant box rattle!

Plastic boxes on ply don't really seem to rattle or move about much unless seriously provoked (or don't make much noise when they do). The things that do rattle are all the ladders and steps. I have various cloths and pieces of rubber carpet underlay which get wedged in strategic places.

 

[D Skelton]

It's the attention to detail I admire!

Lil tip tho, as someone rightly pointed out, my 'fetish' for bungie cords of all shapes and sizes really comes in useful!

You can get the really tiny bungees to secure things in their individual compartments.

 

[Dipzy]

Some good ideas there fellas, thanks for sharing

I just got a 58 plate Transporter so will be racking out soon.

 

[jamie-spark]

Let's see more pics of inside people vans

 

[jamie-spark]

Let's see more pics of inside peoples vans

 

[jamie-spark]